Who has email addys/PAYPAL??????

I am farely new to this lawn cutting business stuff. But I have always had an email address for my lawn business. I get some emails from certain customers when they have questions and I respond fast. I am just wondering how many of you pros out there use email addresses? Also I am thinkin about putting up an email account so I can accept paypal as a payment method for lawn cuts? Do any of you guys do this or its not worth the trouble?

I use PayPal quite a bit with my eBay business, but only because I'm forced to, to be competitive. If I were to accept credit cards for my landscaping business, I would just use a regular credit card processing service.

A couple of my customers use Paypal to pay. I like it because they pay right then and there. I have quite a few customers that are billed through email. I like it because it doesn't cost me anything to send a bill. My billing program handles the whole process automatically.

To be honest with you-I like the idea of PAYPAL, its fast, its quick, and the payment is instant. I used it on eBay last year alot.

HOWEVER-my dads account got scammed this summer...he had his american express card used to charge 70.00 on some video gaming site. Luckily, since he has been a member since the mid 80's, the cleared the charges, but he no longer has an account with them.

The concept of E-billing is good. Paperless and costless. Its alot easier to punch in an email address and hit send than to fumble with papers, envelopes, stamps and trips to the post office.

If you do E-billing, I would suggest setting up a paypal account, you can set it up to recieve funds from both major credit cards as well as checking accounts.

Been using Paypal since before they were Paypal (back when they were just X.com) I have bought about a hundred of items using Paypal and sold Hundreds of items using Paypal (eBay). I also accept Paypal for Landscaping jobs as well (and it's even listed as a payment option on our website.) But truth is - it's really a pretty poor way to accept money for landscaping. Partially because it's expensive. But moreso because people just don't like it.

Personally, I love Paypal. Never had a problem with them and I love the idea. I think everyone should use it. But 2 years ago I tried getting customers to pay with Paypal and very few responded favorably. Of course, a lot more people are familiar with it these days than were 2 years ago. But for those who still aren't familiar with Paypal (probably 90% of your clients), you'll find that they just aren't interested in it at all. It seems the old adage is fairly true about teaching old dogs new tricks.

However, since I opened up a Merchant account and started taking Visa. MC, Amex, directly (without paypal) I've had a TON of interest. Lord knows why people feel more comfortable giving me their credit card number over the phone than they do with a secure service like Paypal (where I would never know their CC number)- but they do! And nowadays I process all sorts of credit card transactions. Just no many via Paypal.

Alternatively, you may also be interested in my AutoPay system. It works like a charm, people seem to like it, and I don't have to give up 2 or 3%. See THIS THREAD for more details.

In summary, there is no downside to taking Paypal (except the fees). Just don't expect too many people to be all that interested in it.

I only use paypal to send money to E-bay transactions. Otherwise its sort of a rip. I'll let the customer send a 37 cent stamp instead of me losing .30 for every 10 bucks. Seems small but add it up over a year or two.

I have a website and they give me 100 e-mail addresses. I have made a special box for regular customers that they only have. When I check my e-mail (3-4 times a day) I can see that my regulars are writing. I really like that kind of correspondence sometimes because I have their request in writing. No doubt as to what they want. Give it a try, I think you will like it.

Just as with credit cards, I can't justify the expense of paying a percentage of my money to someone else for handling it. I get paid nicely with checks that arrive in the mail, so why would I throw my money away on these fees?